$2B Collective Brands Sale Gets Nod From Shareholders

Law360, New York (August 21, 2012, 6:53 PM EDT) -- Shareholders of Kansas-based Collective Brands Inc., parent to shoe brands Payless and Keds, have greenlighted a cash-and-debt deal worth about $2 billion to hand Collective Brands over to rival Wolverine World Wide Inc. and private equity investors, according to a Tuesday regulatory filing.

In a special stockholder meeting, 46.2 million shareholders of the 46.5 million represented signed off on adopting the merger plan, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Announced in May, the deal proposes to divvy up Collective Brands' businesses...